LG Electronics has offered up a teaser of what to expect with webOS 23, an upgrade to its smart TV operating system that will appear with this year’s OLED TVs - the LG A3, B3, C3, G3 and Z3 models that were announced earlier today.
The last major update to webOS came in early 2021, but the new interface wasn’t particularly well received. Now, LG is hoping to rectify that with new features including quick cards, tabs and more.
The 2021 update introduced a major redesign, transforming webOS from a bottom menu into a full screen layout, while at the same time introducing advertisements and content recommendations. The ads and recommendations will stay, but users will hopefully appreciate the more streamlined, split-screen homescreen experience with a simplified layout that’s supposedly also much faster than before, thanks to the new Alpha9 Gen6 processor in the new TVs.
Along with the refined new look, webOS 23 offers a new feature called Quick Cards that are meant to provide “easy access to the content and services” people use the most. The Quick Cards will basically offer better recommendations based on user’s viewing habits and preferences, and will initially launch with Home Office, Gaming, Music and Sports categories, with more to be added in future months. The targeted content will be supported by a new AI Concierge feature, which LG says will provide each user with a “curated list of content based on their past usage and search queries”.
According to FlatpanelsHD, LG will deliver this via a streamlined, two-screen experience, as opposed to the previous scrolling system, with customised content recommendations at the top and the usual array of streaming services and catch-up TV platforms in the section below. There will be further personalisation with profile images and avatars thrown into the mix, LG said. In addition, webOS will also support Matter, a unified smart home connectivity standard that’s backed by Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung and LG. With Matter, the TV can be connected to other smart devices via the LG ThinQ application, allowing them to be controlled via the Home Hub in LG’s 2023 OLED TVs. LG has also promised to add support for Matter to its 2022 TVs in a future firmware upgrade that will hopefully roll out later this year.
It’s not clear if webOS 23 itself will be introduced to LG’s older TVs, however we may learn more about the company’s plans at its official keynote at CES 2023 on January 5.
